Blow Out the Candles
by MikaCienfuegos
Summary: Raven's 20th birthday is approaching and with it her coming of age ritual. The Titans travel to Azarath and chaos ensues as the seal protecting that dimension breaks and hordes of demons attack. Placed after the events of my story "Creatures of the Night". Pairings: Rae/OC Nightwing/Star
1. Chapter 1: A Wish Come True

Raven's 20th birthday is approaching and with it her coming of age ritual. The Titans travel to Azarath and chaos ensues as the seal protecting that dimension breaks and hordes of demons attack. To spice things back home, Mika lives her own adventure along Titans East.

This fanfic follows the events after _Creatures of the Night_ and before _Darkness in Me. _I know I had originally intended it to be more centered on Raven and her mother, than on her relationship with Mika. But I have so much fun portraying Mika I just couldn't left her outside of the picture. So if you have not read my first fanfic, I would recommend it. If not, all you really have to know is that Raven has a vampire girlfriend XD.

Hope you enjoy it. Please Read n Review it will help me do better. =)

Author's Notes: Sometimes the characters are called by their real names. I'll leave you a quick guide in case you are not familiar with the DC universe.

Robin = Nightwing = Richard "Dick" Grayson

Starfire = Kori

Raven = Rachel Roth

Beast Boy = Changeling = Garfierld "Gar" Logan

Cyborg = Victor Stone

* * *

**CHAPTER 1: A Wish Come True**

* * *

Raven was never one to believe in childish things, for she never was a normal child. Things like the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy or making a wish and blowing out the candles were not something encouraged by the grownups around her. They believed such notions were dangerous for they would put in her mind a false sense of hope.

The first time she had ever had a party was on the 16th anniversary of her birth. Beast Boy had planned for her a surprise party that hadn't gone so well at first; the prophesy of her birth looming on her head. But then she had given in and allowed them to celebrate her. As Starfire adorned her with a crown of meat and Cyborg placed a huge 8 layer frosting cake in front of her, they asked her to make a wish and blow out the candles. She knew it was a stupid idea, childish things. But then she turned to look at the hopeful faces of her friends and felt with her powers their warm, loving wishes... and she surrendered.

_I wish to be normal…_

As she saw the smoke of the candles rise in the air, she remembered the many nights she had dreamt of it as she lay in the worn out couch of the crappy apartment she slept in the first nights of her arrival to Jump City. She remembered back then feeling scared, lost, and hungry all the time. The demon halfling had run away from home to the place she was destined to help her father destroy, in a vain attempt of sparing Azarath form the same fate. Many sleepless nights had she dreamt of being just a normal girl, until the arrival of Starfire, the alien princess that fell from the sky, and the Teen Titans were born.

But even then, even after becoming a hero, even after the death of her father and the promise of a new destiny, some nights she still dreamt of what it would be like to be normal. Now here she was back home, in Azarath, and was faced with the consequences of her wish. Only a few hours separated her from what she had always dreamt of… and she was terrified.

It had all started a few days ago, with the arrival of an unexpected letter.

* * *

Raven had awoken that day past noon as it was usual of her nowadays. Between her superhero duties and her vampire girlfriend, she was usually up all night and could rarely be seen sharing breakfast with her teammates anymore. At first they forgot about Raven's new nocturnal lifestyle and they would go barging in her door early in the morning, only to find themselves plummeting out the window encased in a ball of dark energy. After 2 months they knew better than to mess with the dark Titan during her beauty sleep, so they would just leave her alone; and on some rare occasion she would wake up to find them gone out somewhere without her.

Today, she was enjoying one of those quiet moments of loneliness in the Tower. The empath had been sitting in the big, halfmoon couch reading a book for a few hours, when the others arrived with pizzas.

"Yo Rae, you are up!" hollered Cyborg "Good 'cause these babies were not going to last for long. I'm starving."

"Where were you guys?" asked the empath as she took a seat next to them in the table and grabbed a slice. She was used to living with them, and knew that if you wanted to eat pizza you had to be fast.

"There was a bank robbery." said their leader between bites.

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"And face the wrath of the vampire demoness!?" shrieked Changeling "We better risk it with the burglars."

"Not funny Gar." deadpanned Raven "One thing is to wake me up to referee a game of stank ball. Another is to wake me up to work. I don't want you all to think I'm neglecting my duties just because I'm in a relationship."

"Don't worry Rae, we know. It was just a minor league robbery, so we didn't think of bothering you for that." reassured Richard.

"Yeah, since you are looking paler than usual, why expose you to burn in the sunlight just for a petty criminal." quipped in Cyborg.

"I'm not a vampire Cy. I'm not going to burn."

"Right; with that settled, we have more important issues to discuss with you Rae." said the metal teen getting all serious. His mood was interrupted though by the changeling.

"Yeah, we have a surprise for you!"

"I don't do surprises." said Raven in a monotone voice.

"That's why we are going to tell you beforehand, so you don't blow us out the window when you receive it."

Raven arched an eyebrow. Garfield just knew her too well sometimes.

"Ok, here is the deal. Your birthday is in a few days, so we are throwing a big birthday party for you."

"That's not a surprise Gar. You do that every year."

"Oh but this time it's special, you are turning 20, which means you are no longer a teen. So, in this special occasion we are inviting all Titans and Honorary Titans to throw the best party you've ever had!" her green friend was obviously daydreaming about the party. Last time someone had turned 20, which had been Richard, the older boys had gotten beer and he had sneaked some for himself, even though he was not legally allowed to. A drunken bunch of teenage superheroes was not her idea of fun.

"Guys, I appreciate the gesture, but how do you know I don't already have plans for that day… somewhere else…"

"Oooohhh does your girlfriend have something romantic planned for you?" wondered Starfire with love dovey eyes.

"I'm not saying a thing… just please cancel the party, I might not be around that day."

Raven grabbed another slice of pizza and left to head for her bedroom.

* * *

Once the dark titan left the common room, the voices in her head made themselves present; which usually happened when there was big turmoil in her psyche. As she walked down the hall way she began an interesting argument with herself.

_Why did you do that? It's not like Mika has anything planned for that day… she doesn't even know it's our birthday that day! –_ chastised Happy.

"She's not supposed to know…. Not yet."

_Why? _

"She will probably go overboard to do something extremely special for that day to make me feel like a princess."

_And that's bad because… _- her overly enthusiastic emotion was not sure what was her point.

"Because I don't like it when she's spends so much money on me. I know it's maybe a vampire thing to be all classy and luxurious, but I just want something simple."

_Then why don't you just tell her your friends are throwing a party for you, so she doesn't plan anything big on her own. _– irrupted Wisdom in the conversation.

"And have Mika mingle with all the other superheroes? I don't think so."

_You are embarrassed!? _– yelped Brave stunned. Apparently the conversation had dragged the attention of several emoticlones.

"No! Well maybe a little." admitted the Titan "It is awkward enough being around my friends when she comes to the Tower; just imagine how awkward it will be with all the other Titans. I don't want to deal with a public coming out on my birthday."

_She's right… we are not ready for that…_ - commented Timid in a low voice.

_Fair enough. But don't you think you should tell that to your friends? What if they accidentally out you with the others? _– asked Wisdom worriedly.

"They are not that stupid… well maybe BB is. But even so, I think it is awkward for them as well to see me with a girl, I don't think they are going to talk about it with other people."

_Alright, what are you telling Mika? Will you admit to her that you want to keep her a secret from the rest of the world?" _

"I don't know, I'll think of something. Plus, she's always been very patient with my process. I don't think she'll get mad."

_You talk about her as if she were a saint. She's nice to us, but she's no white dove, she's going to get royally pissed by it or at least enormously disappointed. _– Rude's snide comments sounded a little too convincing for Raven, but decided to deal with it later.

As she arrived at her room she noticed there was something different. Like a presence of some sorts. Everything looked the same though. Raven's room was very dark; her curtains where barely open so everything was in shadows. Her demon eyes allowed her to see perfectly in the dark, but even then she could not pinpoint what was different. In a quick scan she noticed her books were in place, her laptop was on top of her desk where it should be, her crystal ball was on top of her drawer, and her bed housed the two stuffed animals she owned: a raven Mika gave her on a date and the big chicken Beast Boy had gotten for her at a fair. Everything looked the same as she had left it.

She opened the curtains to see with more clarity and there's where she saw it. In the window, seen against the sunlight, was a letter imprinted on the crystal. She immediately knew it came from Azarath, her homeland. Since a great amount of energy was needed for the passage between dimensions, the easiest way to send messages was through mirrors and crystals. In the lack of a vanity mirror, this message was imprinted on the big window in her room. What amazed her was that it was written in English rather than Sanskrit, the official writing of the monks. The letter was from her mother.

_[Greetings my beloved Rachel, _

_I hope you are alright. I know we have not seen in a while, and when we did it was not in the best of times. But I write to you now in more joyous light. Your 20__th__ birthday is approaching, and as you know, it is a special occasion here in Azarath. I urge you to come home soon so we may discuss the details of your Zarathian Passage. There is plenty for us to arrange before the day comes. I'll be waiting for you. _

_Farewell my daughter, may Azar bless you._

_Arella.]_

Raven sat on the floor in front of the window, reading over and over again the short message. In 6 years never had her mother written to her and she was very confused by the meaning of it. Especially because she could feel the message, it was written in a mixture of excitement and nostalgia.

The Zarathian Passage was an important ritual in her people's culture. It was a coming of age ritual to welcome a new adult into Azarath's society. Azar herself, their ruler and spiritual leader, presided over such events, where she bestowed blessings and assigned the role the new adult would play in their peaceful society. It was a joyous occasion and everyone attended with gifts and food to partake of a huge feast.

The Titan was shaken by it. Never had her mother celebrated her birthday, for reasons obvious to Raven; and now she wanted to prepare a Zarathian Passage celebration. It was just too much to take. Her concerns about flashy parties, and coming out to her friends were thrown out the window.

_Mother says she'll be waiting for us. Let's just go see her and get all those questions out in the open. _

Raven agreed with her wise side, so she lit up some candles in a circle around her and began her incantation to go back to her place of birth.

"AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS… KALAZON RACASHOS ENDARATH… VASIRIX ZENDREIN AZARATH… AZARATH AZARATH!"

* * *

Raven traveled through dimensions in a swirl of blue lights. This time there was no hell fire trying to bind her to earth and she swiftly got to the portal leading to Azarath. Once there, the seal that protects that dimension from demonic invasion activated, recognizing Raven's heritage. And just like last time, the daughter of Trigon had to push herself though in order to go back home.

Next thing she knew she was not levitating above Azarath like last time. Now she was floating in water in the middle of a lake. As she swam to the shore she recognized she was not in the main island, the capital city of Azar had no lakes. She was probably in one of the little floating islands that orbited around the city.

After a few minutes she finally reached the shore and walked to a cottage nearby. The place was unlike any other building in that dimension; Azarathian architecture was futuristic in style. Still, it looked familiar somehow, like she had been there before. Outside the cottage was a tulip garden and a big apple tree with a swing hanging from one of its branches. The cottage itself was made of wood and painted in a washed out pink color. She got to the porch and there were wind chimes hanging in the shape of white doves. As the wind caressed the chimes a melodic sound filled her senses and she felt completely relaxed. Then she remembered why it looked familiar…

"It looks just like Love's cottage." murmured Raven remembering the realm where one of her emoticlones lived. It was a place she rarely visited in Nevermore, but she was certain that was it.

"Love's cottage?"

Raven turned around at the sound of a voice behind her, to find her mother was standing a few feet away with a bag of groceries in her hands.

"Arella."

"Raven."

They just stood there for a few minutes; it had been a while since they last saw each other and they seemed to be taking in each other's presence. Arella gave her a small smile which Raven returned.

"Mother what is this place?" finally asked the Titan.

"This is where I live. I am actually glad you found your way here so fast."

"Once I went through the seal I immediately appeared in the lake. I just had to swim here."

"Yes, I can see you are wet. You might get sick. Come, you need to change. I'll lend you some fresh clothes."

Arella walked her inside, and Raven was welcomed into a cozy living room with a chimney with warm fire. On a far end, there was a piano next to a big window that overlooked the lake. Arella disappeared in one of the rooms and emerged with clean robes on her hands.

"Here, you can change in that room." said her mother pointing at a door. "While you change I'll start to prepare dinner."

Raven went in and she found a kiddies room. The walls were painted baby blue and had cute bears on them. The bed was small and there were a few toys on a rocking chair. She changed her clothes and realized they were just like the robes Arella used. With her clothes she looked just like her mother, the only difference being her skin color.

She got out and headed for the kitchen were her mother was cooking. Arella turned around and gasped.

"You are so tall."

"Guess we are the same size now."

"Well, come my child, dinner is ready; you must be hungry from your travel."

"I'm not really hungry."

"Then please join me; I made plenty for both of us."

Raven sat down and Arella placed a vegetable soup in front of her and a basket with fresh bread. The Titan began eating slowly. The food was warm and fulfilling. She savored the taste remembering the dishes the monks used to feed her back at the temple, mostly vegetarian; Garfield would have enjoyed it.

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's good. It's just been a while since I ate something like this."

"What do you usually eat?" asked Arella making small talk.

"Mostly pizza…" Raven smiled a little at her own admission of unhealthy eating habits "I know, not that healthy but I grew up with a bunch of teenage superheroes. All we ever have in the kitchen are frozen food, root beer and potato chips."

"Sounds like you have a lot of fun there."

"With a bunch of immature, super powered brats living under the same roof? Not as fun as it sounds." Arella chuckled. "Mother, speaking of immature, whose is that room I went into? And why does this place look so familiar to me?"

"That was your room Rachel. This is the place where you were born. We both used to live here before you went to live at the Temple of Azar. This is your home."

Raven took in the information and turned to look around a little surprised. It was exactly as Love's realm in Nevermore. She had only being there once, but it kind of made sense that part of her psyche was shaped after the place she was born.

"How come I don't remember?"

"You were a baby back then. And now you are a beautiful grown up woman."

"Which reminds me of what brings me here." said Raven cutting to the point, not wanting to get yet into emotional matters.

"Yes, your Zarathian Passage. I am glad you came. I was afraid you might not want to partake of such an important celebration for our people."

"I never imagined I would ever have a celebration like that… I mean, I am not exactly popular here. Most people are afraid of me." said the gloomy empath.

"You would be surprised then of how much things have changed."

"What do you mean?"

"Raven you are a hero. You defeated your father and changed the destiny of Earth and Azarath. Your legend will be told to every newborn for generations to come. Everyone is excited for your upcoming birthday. Expect a huge celebration on you honor my daughter."

Raven was in shock. Her brain was not processing the information. Inside her mind, Nevermore was in disarray. Her emoticlones had gathered in Wisdom's library and were all now talking at the same time trying to make sense of how she was supposed to be feeling. She felt glad, she felt mad, she felt confused, she even felt outraged.

"You look surprised."

"I am." accepted her daughter.

"Well I just hope it is a pleasant surprise."

"My friends where planning a big party for me back home, with every Titan on the planet. And I thought that was too much, that they were overdoing it. I even told them to cancel it. But this…"

"You are much loved Raven. Please accept participating in your coming of age ritual. Your friends can join the celebration; the Titans will be praised as heroes. They'll have a royal treatment."

"I don't know. This feels like a dream. I have to admit I was very surprised by your letter. I never had a birthday party before here in Azarath; I never imagined you would call me for my Zarathian Passage."

"You did have a birthday party once…"

"I did?" asked Raven even more surprised.

"Yes…" Arella stood up and grabbed a photo from a drawer, and handed it to Raven. "Here…"

In the picture there was her mother holding a gray skin baby girl with huge violet eyes like her hair. They were in front of a birthday cake with one lit up candle.

"You were only one. That was the only birthday I was allowed to have you, the next year they took you away to the temple to begin your training."

"I don't remember this…"

"You were very little. But I do remember. I remember holding you in my arms and blowing out the candle, wishing for us to one day to have a normal life."

"Wishes are for children."

"Well, I was not entirely a grown up back then."

Raven looked at the image in silence for a few minutes; taking in the moment. She was overwhelmed by different emotions and she was afraid that might cause her powers to unleash, so she began internally chanting her mantra. Arella said nothing, waiting for Raven to regain her composure.

"I always wished to be like the other kids, and participate in their games and festivities, but I was always frowned upon and the monks preferred I stayed to meditate. I got used to living in the dark."

"Well, part of the ritual is to leave behind childish conceptions and fears, and embrace light as a new person. Azar herself will bless you with spiritual gifts that will grant you the possibility to feel more freely."

Raven meditated her words for a few minutes.

"You said in the letter there were various things to prepare before the big day. What kind of things?"

"We have to prepare your vows as a new adult, you will need a special diet with no meat in your meals for the previous 3 days, prepare an offering to take to the temple, and we have to make your ceremonial robe. We can choose the colors today, and tomorrow I'll get what we need."

"Can I wear dark blue?" asked the Titan.

"I don't think it's such a great idea. Colors are symbolic, they represent different things. Imagine your ceremonial gown like a wedding dress; you wouldn't want to wear a red one."

"So, should I wear something like white then?"

"White would be the most ideal choice… you are a virgin right?"

The empath was still a little too overwhelmed and didn't know what to answer at such an intimate question. She just grabbed bread and stuffed it in her mouth, hoping Gar's lame distraction technique might work. It didn't.

"Raven?"

"Am I supposed to be?"

"Well like I said, it is like a wedding dress, everyone uses white regardless of their purity anyway."

"Are you disappointed?" asked the empath timidly, unsure of what emotions her mother was feeling.

"What? No, not at all my child. I was 16 when you were born, is not like I am one to judge regarding that matter."

"Right…" said Rae as she resumed eating.

"So, you have a boyfriend?" asked her mother.

"You could say that…"

"Are you two being safe?" wondered her mother.

"Safe?"

"Yes, you know. Do you take precautions? Have birth control plans?"

"Arella! Do you really find it appropriate that we talk about this?"

"Sorry, I should not pry on your private life. But I am still your mother, even if we are not very close. And I worry."

Raven said nothing. She was glad for the food in front of her, for it gave her an excuse to not talk. This was an awkward moment. She had never sat at the table with her mother, let alone had a mother-daughter talk; and now here was Arella trying to "bond" and have the "bees and birds" talk.

"I would like you to meet your siblings." Arella finally interrupted her train of thoughts.

"I have siblings?"

"Yes. Milo and Kamile, they are staying at Azar's Temple right now, but you'll meet them soon."

"Arella you got married?" Raven thought it was just too much new information for her.

"No, I did not get married."

"Ok, now it's my turn to ask if YOU have birth control plans?"

Arella chuckled.

"I adopted them after you left for earth."

"Oh… Why?"

"Guess I missed you."

Raven rolled her eyes and then realized her mother had caught her in the act of been rude.

"Sorry, I find it a little hard to believe. You rarely visited me at the temple."

"I was not allowed to." confessed her mother.

"Why?"

"They believed it was dangerous, you were still learning to control your emotions."

"I guess I get that. I was a demonic child. But, did you really wanted to see me? Didn't I remind you of him? Even my skin color is different."

"I have to confess to you Raven that I suffered all my pregnancy, had it not being for the Azarathian monks that found me; I would have committed suicide before you were born."

"So, you really didn't want me then?" asked Raven a little hurt by her comment.

"No… not at first. But the moment you were born and I grabbed you in my arms for the first time; you were so small with eyes so full of wonder, I knew I had to do all in my power to protect you. I'm sorry for not having been around as you grew up, but I was learning to control my emotions at the same time you were. My emotional imbalance would have affected you in your learning."

Arella's face betrayed no emotion; she was a devoted practitioner of self control. But Raven was an empath, and she could not hide from her the pain of being separated from her child.

"But I am glad to know you can now even have a romantic relationship and stay in control of your powers." added her mother.

"Yes, well it is kind of hard actually; I had never been close like that to anyone before."

"He must be a kind man… Right?"

Raven just nodded into her soup.

"Oh Azar… you are like me, you like the bad boys don't you?"

"It's not that mother. I don't like bad boys… actually I don't like boys…"

Realization finally struck Arella. She turned to look at her daughter. The controlled and cool Raven now looked uncomfortable in her own skin.

"Well, at least I don't have to worry about you making me a grandmother too soon?"

"You ok with that then?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know. I don't know you so well; I thought you might be a little more conservative."

"Conservative? Raven I used to be a demon worshipper. I do not get scandalized easily. I think I can handle your choice of partner." said Arella as a matter of fact.

"Right…" Raven was seeing her mother under a new light, she was being very open for the first time. "I guess I never really asked about your life before coming here."

"I used to be known as Angela… the irony of it since I was no angel. Like you I did not grow knowing the warmth of loving parents, and ended up in the streets of Gotham."

"Sounds like a harsh life."

"No harsher than yours. But now my life is very different. I became a pacifist."

They smiled at each other and finished their meal quietly. Raven offered to do the dishes and as they were finishing cleaning up Raven turned to look at Arella again.

"I never imagined having this conversation with you…"

"Never did I my sweet child. But I am glad we did."

"Thank you for the meal mother, but is getting late, I should go."

"Very well, will you come tomorrow?" asked her mother hopefully.

"Yes, I'll be here." then looked at the picture in her hand. "Here…"

"You can keep it… we'll take another one on your 20th birthday when you make your own wish."

With that Raven stood up, picked up her clothes and headed back to Titan's Tower. As she left the cottage, she felt Love rejoice inside of her as she hanged some white dove wind chimes in her little place in Nevermore.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	2. Chapter 2: A New Identity

**CHAPTER 2: A New Identity**

* * *

"Dude, what am I supposed to tell everyone? That Raven is going to ditch her party to smooch with her vampire girlfriend?"

It was a quiet day for the Titans. Everyone was in the common room except for Raven; Robin and Cyborg were racing each other in the gamestation, while Starfire cooked some of her strange alien food. Everyone was having a good time, except for Changeling, who had drawn the short straw and was now in charge of calling everyone to cancel Raven's birthday party as she had requested.

"I don't think that's necessary BB… maybe you can just tell them Raven is not in the mood to party. They know her, so they'll understand."

"Dude, everyone was looking forward to this day, it's going to be such a bummer."

"Just do it. Raven doesn't want a party. She'll be with her girlfriend." Dick's tone of _I'm not taking no for an answer_ left the youngest of the team with no choice.

"I think we should just tell Mika about the party" jumped in Starfire, eager to celebrate that day as well.

"Yeah, maybe she'll like to join the celebration and then take her someplace else afterwards, it's not like they go to sleep early anyway." Cy sided up with his teammates.

"Alright." their leader finally gave in "We'll see if Mika wants to side with us for Raven's party. But how are we going to contact her? We don't have her number and she has not stopped by the Tower lately."

At that moment the doors slid open and the vampire walked in.

"Speaking of the devil." said Nightwing "How the hell did you enter without a key?"

"Good to see you too Dick; I also missed you."

"You did not answer my question."

"Cy programmed the door to recognize my digital prints so I would not accidentally trigger your security system on my late night visits."

Richard turned to look at Cyborg and he nodded in agreement.

"Fine, next time just let me know beforehand, I wouldn't want anyone dangerous walking in the tower unnoticed."

Mika was ready for a comeback of her own when Gar interrupted their little dispute.

"Alright guys, we know you two love each other, but let's please not lose focus on the important things!" the green teen was not willing to risk a big party at Titan's Tower for a stupid rivalry between those two "Mika, we want to know what you are planning for this Friday?"

"This Friday? I don't know, I don't usually think so far into the future…"

"Dude how can you have no plans yet? Raven is going to be so disappointed!"

"Disappointed? Why? What's so special about this Friday?" the vampire was confused.

"Do you have short memory span? It's Raven's birthday!" yelped Garfield.

"Raven's Birthday? I didn't know this Friday it's her birthday! Why nobody told me before? That leaves me only a few days to plan her present."

"You didn't know? Raven told us not to throw a party for her because she was going out with you!"

"Actually… she didn't say that." Cyborg thought about it "She just said she was not going to be around that day, and we assumed she would be with you."

"She never told me when her birthday was… I never got around to asking her that. The topic of age is still a sensitive issue between us…" explained Mika.

"Well, maybe she wanted you to find out on your own and plan something romantic for her as a surprise?" said Starfire trying to make sense of her friend's behavior.

"That doesn't make sense Starfire… Besides; she's been keeping me away from here for some reason. I haven't really seen her this week. She told me she's being very busy."

"That is strange. We haven't had any bad guy activity lately. Maybe she just doesn't want to celebrate her birthday and is trying to make everyone ignore it." said Richard, worried that they might be disturbing their reclusive friend by trying to impose her a big party.

"Maybe she is worried of ageing since you do not age." said Starfire looking at Mika.

"That would be so Twilight! …please don't tell her I made such an analogy."

"If she's been keeping you away, what are you doing here right now?" asked Nightwing.

"I came to give her a surprise. I miss her; I wanted to see if we could smooch a little, maybe sneak in a little quicky before she went off to fight crime."

"Do you have to be so graphic?" barked Richard scandalized.

"Do I make you uncomfortable with my comments? Because that's not nearly as graphic as I can be."

"Would you two please stop fighting? Friend Raven is acting strange, even for Raven."

"I'll go to her room, pump her for information." said Mika as she left the common room.

"Make sure that's all you pump her for!" yelled Richard after her.

"Now who's being graphic Boy Blunder!"

* * *

Raven meditated in front of the lake outside of Arella's cottage. She liked it there, with the cool breeze caressing her skin and the soothing coo of the white doves that visited that place. Tomorrow began her training at Azar's Temple in preparation for her Zarathian Passage and she had to be in her best control of her emotions. The Titan opened her eyes as she felt her mother approach her from behind.

"I am sorry to disturb you."

"It's ok, it's getting late. I should get going." said the empath as she stood up.

"Will you bring your friends to your celebration?"

"I haven't told them anything yet." admitted Rae.

"You want them to be here during that day?"

"That would be nice I guess…"

Raven looked a little down. She had planned that day a lot more differently than it was going to happen; and even though she was excited about the whole deal, it still made her kind of nostalgic. Arella sensed where her daughter's insecurities might come from.

"You can also bring your girlfriend, you know."

"I don't think she'll be coming."

"Already breaking your heart then?" ventured Arella.

"It's not that. Is not that she wouldn't want to come. Is that she can't come."

"Why?"

"The sun never sets on Azarath… and she is more of a creature of the dark." explained Raven.

"What do you mean?" asked her mother confused.

"Mika is a vampire."

Arella was a little surprised by Raven's confession, and she was a little worried as well. "So you do like bad girls?"

"She's not bad… she's kind of like me. She has this darkness inside, but tries to make up for it. She's even a vegan!"

"A vegan vampire? Well, I'm sorry I won't be able to meet her. That would have been interesting." Arella relaxed a little at her words. "What does she think of not been able to come to your rite of passage?"

"I have not told her either… But I'll call her as soon as I get back to the Tower." Raven took from her belt two bottles with different powders which she used to create a circle to go back home. "I'll come tomorrow morning, probably with all my friends."

"I'll be waiting."

* * *

"She's not in her room! And I found this!" the vampire flashed a post it in front of their faces which Cyborg took from her hand.

"Remind Dick it is his turn doing the laundry. Buy herbal tea. Have lunch with Arella… Who is Arella?" asked Cy as he read the post it.

"I have no idea! Isn't Arella this goth Australian chick with superpowers? I so think she's gay!"

"That is Argent, not Arella." corrected Starfire.

"Then she is out with some chick no one knows about?!" Mika was totally freaking out "You think she's cheating on me?!"

"Raven would never do the cheating!" defended Starfire, indignant that she would even suggest such a thing of her friend.

"Then why didn't she tell me about her birthday?" said the vampire in a totally depressive tone.

"I didn't tell you about my birthday so you wouldn't go overboard about it." stated Raven in her monotone voice as she entered the common room.

"Raven where were you?" asked Changeling.

"I was in my room."

"Don't lie, I was just there looking for you. You were gone and I found this!" said Mika still a little crazy showing her the post it that had been pasted on her laptop "Who is Arella!?"

"You went into my room on your own and snooped into my things? You and I are going to have to talk about personal space boundaries in our relationship."

"Don't change the subject! Who is Arella?"

"Mika, you are making a jealous scene in front of my friends." said Raven a little mortified.

"Everyone is thinking the same as I am anyway. You are cheating on me aren't you?"

"No idiot! I'm not cheating on you!" Raven began losing her patience "Arella is my mother."

"Oh…" everyone looked a little taken aback by it. Raven had never talked about her mother before. "You went to see your mother?"

"Yes, I was in Azarath visiting my mother. Are you going to freak out about that?"

"Oh… I just made an ass out of myself didn't I?"asked Mika embarrassed "Sorry."

"Friend Raven what have you been doing in Azarath. Is it not in another dimension?"

"Guess it's time to tell you guys about it." said the empath as she urged everyone to take a seat in the half moon couch. "As you all know, my 20th birthday is approaching."

"Yeah, thanks for telling me by the way." Raven rolled her eyes at her girlfriend's snide comment. She could be so immature sometimes.

"As I was saying, it's my 20th birthday and it means is my Zarathian Passage, like a coming of age celebration in Azarath. My mother wrote to me a few days back urging me to go back home to prepare for it. It is a big deal for my people, so I have to be in Azarath that day."

"That's why you said you would not be around?" wondered Richard.

"I didn't know at that moment. But it all worked out that way anyway."

"So we are not going to be seeing you that day at all?" asked Garfield a little disappointed.

"Well, my mother said the Titans are invited to the ceremony." said the azarathian.

"Awesome!" everyone's faces lit up at the idea of going to Raven's home to celebrate her birthday. They knew a lot of her demonic heritage, but very little about her mother and the culture she grew up in.

"What about me? Did your mother invite me too?" asked her girlfriend hopefully "You did tell your mother about me, didn't you?"

"Yes, she does know about you… and she did mention wanting to meet you, but I'm not sure if that could be possible…" trailed off the dark titan.

"What do you mean?"

"Azarath is not a place suitable for dark creatures, the passage for that dimension even has a shield that protects it from evil and…"

"You think I'm evil? This is worst than thinking you are cheating on me!"

"Mika let me finish…" Raven had never imagined her ever confident girlfriend could be so insecure all of a sudden "I don't think you are evil. I just think that maybe you are a little bit like me, and in essence you are considered an evil being, even if you don't act on your impulses."

"So you are saying you don't believe I might be able to go through the seal… and that everyone else will."

"I don't know, maybe. Look I don't want to hurt your feelings but even I have trouble getting in and I was born there, I practically have to push myself in. So I don't know if the seal will allow you entrance… but even if you did pass through, I don't know if it would be a good idea to take you; it's the realm of eternal day."

"Oh…" Mika looked extremely depressed now.

"You say you get blisters and stuff right, maybe massive amounts of sunscreen can make up for it." tried to help Cyborg, noticing how down the pale girl was now.

"No, that won't help."

"Mika what exactly happens to you with sunlight?" asked the green teen with curiosity. All they knew about vampires came from monster movies and many of those things didn't really apply to her.

"I'll burn to ashes…" admitted the eternal teen deflated.

"Guess that's not a myth like the garlic then."

"No, it's not."

Everyone remained quiet; they felt kind of bad for the vampire.

"I have to be in Azarath tomorrow morning for the preparations of my Zarathian Passage." Raven continued with her explanation "If you guys want to attend, you'll have to come with me."

"Count us in."

"Arella will be expecting us. Pack what you'll need for the next days. I'll advice you Vick to take food. Azarathians are mostly vegetarian. You are going to like my mother's cooking Gar."

"Sweet!"

As the Titans began chattering what they were going to take for their interdimensional trip, Raven took Mika's hand and dragged her to her room.

* * *

"We'll do something nice when I get back, ok? I'll even let you plan something ridiculously romantic and expensive for me if you want." offered Raven. She had taken Mika to her room and were both now lying in bed looking at each other pensively.

"What if I'm still mad at you and I don't feel like planning anything stupidly expensive and romantic for you?"

"Then I'll do the planning… just don't expect anything expensive. Superheroes don't really have a big pay check."

"Ok. Sounds good." said the vamp not very convinced of her own words.

"Are we alright then?"

"Yes, I understand why I can't go. It has nothing to do with us. I'll wait for you here." answered the vampire still disheartened.

They remained in silence for a couple of minutes, just lying there on the bed. Even though Raven likes silence, this tension between them was making her very uncomfortable.

"Mika I am an empath; you are going to drown me in your sorrow. Just tell me what is wrong."

"Nothing, it's just that… have you ever wished to just being normal?"

"All the time." admitted the Titan.

"You know, when the comic books about superheroes became popular in the 70s, I always toyed with the idea of having a secret identity. You know, being this mysterious creature of the night that tries to balance an alternate normal life full of teenage drama. But for me there is no normal life, there is just this. There is no college student with a secret identity that fights crime at night to atone for the mistakes of the past. There is no mastermind super villain that plots for world dominance. There is just this, a night predator that remains immune to the passage of time; a mere spectator of life."

It was the first time Raven ever heard Mika refer to herself as an immortal, dark being, and the burden it had to be. She had never mentioned how old she was, but now she knew she had lived for at least 4 decades as a vampire. The Titan was going to be turning 20 soon, which was really no big deal, but what would happen to them when the difference became wider? Would she really be able to live by her side knowing all the things she did during daylight that her girlfriend could not participate in?

"Mika how old are you?"

"I am 19… I will forever be 19."

Raven snuggled Mika into her arms. She was feeling as confused about their relationship as her girlfriend was probably feeling, yet she tried to comfort her as best as she could.

"I can help heal your pain… but you would have to let me into your mind."

"Thanks, but there are places in my mind no one should go to; not even me." said the vampire.

"I can relate to that… tell you what, I'll leave you an assignment for when I come back."

"What kind of assignment?" wondered Mika.

"I want you to imagine what it would be to have this secret identity, to be a superhero of your own, and what your everyday life would be like."

"I'm not much of a hero type."

"Well then a super villain, whatever suits you better. It's only for fun. And when I come back, we can do a little role playing…"

"Raven! I didn't know you could be that kinky! Where did that come from?"

"Well, you get all turned on when we make out and I am wearing my battle uniform. So I thought maybe we could switch roles; have you being the hero and me the thief that you capture or whatever. I don't know, we'll think of something. I just want to give you something to look up to for when I return."

"This is a side of you I had never seen."

"Sometimes my demon side gets some good ideas." said the goth hero with a smirk as she sensed her girlfriend's mood cheer up.

"I'll like to see that side more often then."

"No you don't. But I guess is part of who I am, and I cannot hide it either."

They smiled at each other lovingly and kissed deeply for a few minutes. Then Mika wasted no time in positioning herself on top of Raven, as she began roaming her hands all over the Titan's body. The empath marveled at how fast her girlfriend was able to turn her on. Sexuality had never been a big part of her psyche, but now every night spent with her was filled with uncontainable passion.

They made love that night, and promised to celebrate more once Raven came back.

* * *

The next day the Titans arrived early to Azarath. Arella was waiting for them and gave them a warm welcome. Starfire was ecstatic to see the resemblance between mother and daughter, and all were delighted to see that the place Raven had been born in was not the gloomy, dark place they had imagined.

Raven was surprised when her mother had prepared for them, not a traditional Azarathian breakfast, but waffles. If there was something Raven could not resist, were homemade waffles. After breakfast, Arella gave them all robes, so they could mingle better in their visit to the city. She had made them herself and chose the same color of their uniforms, except for Nightwings, whose robe had the same colors of his old Robin suit. After they all changed and Raven put on a white robe, they headed for Azar's Temple on the main island.

The Titans were impressed by the magnificence of the place. Tall buildings of golden colors and wide gardens filled with different flowers adorned the clean city landscape. White doves soared the skies and smiling people went on their daily lives.

"Wow, this is amazing."

"Dude, if this place is so shiny and happy, why are you always so dark and gloomy?"

Raven just shrugged her shoulders and they began walking down the main street towards their destination. Main Street was very crowded, just as Raven remembered it to be, it housed many stores so people were coming and going all the time doing business. Azarathians did not used money, so the exchange of goods usually took place there. On their way she noticed that people in the street turned to look at her and then began whispering amongst them. She was used to that, everyone knew she was the daughter of a demon, regardless of the color of robes she wore.

Then a little tyke came running towards them and stumbled with Raven, falling to the ground on the process. Without a second thought Raven picked him up as his mother approached running after him.

"Here… you should take better care of him, the street is very busy at this hour and he might get hurt." said Raven nonchalantly.

"Thank you." said the mother holding her youngster and looking at the Titan's with wide open eyes "It is really you…"

"Am sorry?"

"You are already here! All of you!" she said as she raised her voice.

Everyone in the street closer to them began surrounding the group of teenage heroes. At first they were a little confused, believing maybe they had done something wrong, but then they realized everyone was approaching to try and shake their hands or pat them in the back.

"May Azar bless you!"

"It is an honor to be in your presence."

"The heroes are here! They have come to the celebration!"

"Uhm guys, what is going on?" asked the changeling.

"I think they recognized us as the Titans." explained their leader as he was presented with various gifts which he tried to refuse graciously.

Starfire was thrilled by all the attention, they had been praised before as heroes, but never had she felt so much love from the people which adorned her with flowers and colorful necklaces. Cyborg was also excited; many food stands were inviting him to try their food and he just couldn't resist himself to be treated like a king. As soon as the original shock passed, Gar also enjoyed all the attention from the girls and was now transforming into different animals at request. Raven was the most startled of them; mothers began approaching to try and make her hold their children to bless them, just like she had hold the toddler that stumbled with her.

"Raven, I did not know the entire city was expecting our arrival." said Nightwing with surprise.

"Arella said something like that to me. But I didn't expect this. I was never really the most popular last time I was here."

"Things change my child." Everyone around them stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the new comer. Men, women and children all bowed to the tall woman in front of them. Azar, the ruler of Azarath had approached them with a party of monks by her side.

"Azar, blessed be." said Raven as she bowed. Seeing this, all the Titans bowed as well.

"Welcome to Azarath young heroes. Please, follow me. We were expecting your arrival at the temple."

The Titans were escorted to the main temple at the heart of the city, amongst the cheers of the people. As they got to the temple her 4 friends were taken to a different part to be shown Azarathian's culture and lifestyle, while Raven followed her old mentor Azar to a ceremonial chamber inside the main building. She was to prepare for the ritual with her.

"Has your mother explained to you the nature of the Zarathian Passage?"

"Well, Arella said it is a ritual to embrace oneself as a new adult and leave behind childish fears and mythologies. We already made my ceremonial robes, and prepared an offering for me to bring to the temple. I don't know what else I should know."

"My child, the ritual is not just symbolic in nature, as in human cultures. It is spiritual and magical as well. In your case, the ritual will suppress definitely your… dark side… and bind you spirit self to Azarath. You will have a vision of your future, and the place you will take in our society."

"Wait… does that mean I will have to stay here? Won't I be able to go back home, to Earth?"

"Dear Raven this is your home, your real home. But if you wish you will be able to go back to Earth, the ritual will not take away your free will."

"But it will take away my powers?"

"It will take away your demonic side… which is the source of your powers, so yes."

"Wow. That's a big change, I mean huge…"

"You don't have to be scared. "said Azar patiently "Come. I'll show you."

Raven was taken to the edge of a pond that was right in the middle of the chamber. The water in it was of a deep blue color and it housed two big fish, a white and a black one.

"This is the pond of Destiny. Sit here in front of the pond and allow the spirits that live in it to guide you on a spiritual journey. They will show you your life after the ritual."

Raven hesitated a little but did as instructed. Azar looked at her with patience and love in her golden eyes, so she could not refuse her petition. As she sat down her attention was immediately caught by the beautiful dance of the two fish in the pond. They danced around each other making a perfect yingyang with their movements. The empath soon fell in a deep trance, and as her body relaxed with every passing minute, she was taken on a journey to the future that might be.

* * *

Mikaela the vampire woke before the sun went down to find herself alone in Raven's room. She hated to admit that her cool bravado had gone out the window and she was really depressed. The worst thing was not the fact of not going to be at her girlfriend's birthday party; it was that everyone else was.

"She might be all dark and gloom, but she still lives in the world of sunlight… unlike me."

The ageless teen looked around the room and decided to take advantage of the opportunity and explore Raven's life a little more. She went through some of her books, but many were in a strange language. She decided to peek on her laptop, but it was password protected so she closed it back. Then she opened the drawers and found various pictures. In the photographs she was with her friends at the beach, or at a park, or at the pizza place; all under the blazing sun. One picture caught her attention though, it was the team all wearing Richard's old Robin's uniform. They looked much younger and like they were having a lot of fun cosplaying as their leader. Something was scribbled on the back of the picture: _Who would have thought the mask makes you feel really cool._

"Feel cool? In Dick's old traffic light suit?"

She looked at the picture one more time before putting it back on the drawer, deep in thought.

"Although come to think about it, even though he has a stick up his ass most of the time, he has all the coolest toys…"

* * *

Raven was sitting on a bench in one of the gardens of the temple. She knew it was late, but it was always bright outside. As bright as the vision she had seen moments ago. Azar had explained it was a possible future, for future could be change by one simple decision one made, so it was not written in stone. But if she really desired it, that's the future she could live.

"Friend Raven, shouldn't you be resting? Are you not tired from all your training?" said Starfire as she approached her friend.

"I didn't feel like sleeping just yet."

"Is there something bothering you? You look… gloomier than usual."

"Kori can you keep a secret?" asked the empath to her friend.

"Of course! You are my best of friends. What is it that you wish to confide in me?"

"I just found out what this whole passage thing is about; is to suppress definitely my demonic side… forever."

"Is that not a wonderful news Raven? Shouldn't you be happy?" asked the alien a little confused.

"Maybe… I don't know Star. If my demon side is suppressed my powers would be gone. Do you understand what that means?"

"It means you could no longer be a Titan…" said Starfire finally realizing the implications of it.

"Yes."

"What would you do then?"

"Azar is offering me to stay here, and become a spiritual guide for my people. She wants me to be her successor. She says I am the best candidate to guide my people in our pacifistic way of life, since I know what it is like to live in a world of fear." said Raven referring to her life in Earth and all the hardships of her profession to ensure a safe place for everyone "I was actually shown what that would be like, she took me to a special place to see a glimpse of the possible future I would have as ruler of Azarath. It is a great opportunity for me, to take on a new identity not as the daughter of a demon, but as a spiritual guide. I'll be able to do great things and return home to my people."

"If it is as great as you say, why is it then that you sound so sad?" asked Starfire understanding what her predicament might be.

"Cause it means leaving everything behind, leaving my life in earth, my career as a super hero, you guys that have become my family, my vampire girlfriend… it's just too much to take. Star, I don't know what I should do."

"When I was faced with the same dilemma, a wise man once told me to follow my heart."

"What if I am not sure what my heart wants?"

"When the time comes you will know."

Raven sighted as her friend placed an arm around her shoulders for moral support. She knew the goth was not too fond of hugs, but could use one right now.

"I wonder what Mika is doing right now…"

* * *

The sun had set on Jump City. The streets were still busy of people getting out of their jobs and heading into their homes. It was rush hour, and everyone was a little crazy at the wheel; but when they heard the loud motor sound of the nightcycle approach everyone moved out of the way. Nightwing was not only a hero; he was a legend in the city. What nobody knew as they made room for him to pass was that it was not Nightwing behind the wheel this time…

"Wooooohooooooo!"

Mika yelled into the night as she raced through the streets dressed up as Nightwing. As soon as the sun had gone down, she had sneaked into his room and grabbed his stuff, they were mostly the same height, although she had to improvise to cover her boobs and broaden her shoulders.

"Who would have thought? The mask does make me feel very cool!"

* * *

_To be continued…_

_Author's Notes: I know I said Mika would have a really little part in the story, but I got some reviews that said that it would be cool to have Mika being al heroic… then my mind began racing with different ideas, and I just couldn't resist myself… _


	3. Chapter 3: Darkness in Me

**CHAPTER 3: Darkness in Me**

Author's Notes: Yes, this chapter makes reference to my other fanfic "Darkness in Me" which actually follows the events of this story. It will give us a deeper view of the characters. Hope you enjoy it. RnR.

* * *

"Mother why didn't you tell me what the ritual would do to me?" asked Raven feeling a little betrayed. They were both at the cottage. Arella had been playing the piano when Raven arrived early in the morning.

"Because I didn't know." defended Arella "I never had a Zarathian Passage."

"What? Why?" asked her daughter confused.

"I was not born here. Like you Raven, I've never been completely a part of Azarath. Why do you think I live away from the city?"

"So they didn't let you have a Zarathian Passage?"

"No… I refused to have it."

"Why?" asked the empath even more confused now.

"Everyone would have attended. Everyone… except the only person that I really cared about… you." explained Arella to her daughter, as she looked at her with eyes full of questions "You were 3, and you were unable to contain your powers at that time, you were a danger to everyone including yourself. So they had you isolated with only Azar and a few monks to keep you company. How could I have celebrated surrounded by so many people knowing that? How could I become a part of society, when you were alone and away from me?"

"That's why you insisted so much that I bring everyone to my ritual." said Raven more as a statement than a question.

"It is a cheerful celebration. You should be surrounded by friends and family. And you should also be praised as a hero, for all you have achieved… as a mother that's all I ever wished for you."

"Arella I am very confused right now. I don't know if I should go through with it at all."

Arella approached Raven and lifted her chin up. "As a mother, I would love to have my child back home. But whatever you choose, you will always have my love and support. Do what makes you happy."

Raven breathed in deeply, trying to calm her ravaged emotions. She needed answers before it was too late to back off.

* * *

The dark Titan sat in front of the Pond of Destiny. She had requested permission to see once again into her possible future. Raven just sat there for a few minutes contemplating her surroundings; the chamber was illuminated by torches and adorned with golden artifacts. She meditated for a few minutes before finally taking courage to dive into the future she wished to see.

"This time I want to know what my future would be like if I go back to Earth… as a human."

As she watched the two fish dance in the water she felt her consciousness fall deep into slumber. It was similar as when her soul self left her body, just with more intensity. She heard the voices of her emoticlones in her head fade away slowly until only silence remained.

Suddenly she woke up startled, to realize she was in Titan's Tower, in her bed. The sun was shining through her window. Everything was unusually quiet as she stood up and walked to the bathroom to wash her face. She was a little shocked by the image reflected back from the mirror; her skin was a creamy white like her mother's, instead of the pale gray she was accustomed to. As she stared into her own eyes she noticed what else was different; there were no more voices inside her head. For the first time, everything was quiet.

Raven walked to the common room and was greeted by her friends as usual. They all had breakfast together and watched the mandatory dispute of ham over tofu.

"Ready for your first day of training Rachel?" said Nightwing looking at her with a smile "You already have a lot of battle experience, so it will only be a matter of time before you get used to the new you."

"Thanks for doing this for me Richard. I was tired of just sitting around the tower waiting for you guys to come home." said Raven, unsure of where that came from. Just like last time she had been in her spiritual journey, she had no control over what was going on, although she could see, hear, smell and feel everything around her, as if she was really there.

They began training in hand to hand combat, and just as he had said she had a lot of combat experience and managed to keep the pace. But she was tiring very fast, and she didn't remember blows hurt so much. As the training progressed she ditched the cape, it made her really hot and she had trouble keeping it out of the way.

An hour after she was sprawled on the training mat, socked in sweat and everything hurt. Even muscles she didn't knew she had hurt. Richard helped her to her room and told her they would continue tomorrow. As she lied in bed she felt the passage of time and all of a sudden several weeks had passed. It was dark outside and she heard a knock on her door. No longer could she sense who was behind it, so she stood up to open it. She saw her girlfriend standing in the doorway with a single violet rose in her hands.

"Ready to go Luv?"

They went to the movies that night, and as they walked out of the cinema, they saw a thief snatch a woman's purse and run away.

"Hey stop!" Raven yelled after him, and then began chasing, leaving Mika behind. She followed him down an alley and jumped a wired fence. She could feel her muscles tire, but she was intent on capturing him. All the training had to pay off. Then she turned around a corner and stumbled upon the thief and his gang. She was outnumbered 4 to 1. She had faced bigger treats, so she didn't mind that and launched herself against them; only to be easily overpowered by two of them that grabbed her arms and made her bend on her knees.

"What's the matter little girl? Trying to play the big hero?" mocked one of her opponents.

"Leave her alone…" Behind the man stood Mika, eyes glowing red and fangs protruding from her mouth; at her feet stood one of them totally knocked out. The other gang members released Raven and attacked the vampire, but she easily took them down and knocked them unconscious. The battle didn't last long. Her girlfriend helped Raven up, and took her in silence back to her apartment to treat several bruises she had.

"Why do you do that? Why do you keep trying? You are no longer a superhero."

"That's all I know how to do…" responded the goth girl a little disappointed.

"You could try something else Luv. Maybe go to college. Get a job, we'll think of something…"

"We?"

"Yeah… come live with me here. You no longer fit at Titans Tower."

Raven looked at her girlfriend for a long time, before closing the distance between them and kissing her deeply. Mika lifted her in her arms and carried her to the bedroom. They kissed each other lovingly at first, but then Raven desired more and began ripping away her girlfriend's clothes, as she tried to find comfort in their love making. After spending her energy and frustration, Raven fell asleep in her dead girlfriend's arms.

When she woke up she was inside the university auditorium. She had dozed off in class and wondered why she had chosen criminal psychology of all courses. After all, she knew a lot more of criminal minds than any of her so called professors. Finally the class ended and she headed for the cafeteria. As always she sat alone, she was after all the odd goth chick in campus. As she ate, the cafeteria TV showed live footage of a battle between the Titans and a new threat in town. They were battling a demon of some sorts that threw fireballs. It reminded her of Slade when he was working for her father. Changeling was down, he took a heavy blow and now the Titans were beginning to fall back. Raven could not ignore her heart any longer. She stood up and threw away her lunch and headed for the battle.

Next time Rachel woke up she was in a hospital bed. Everything hurt… again. She had a cast on both of her arms and was breathing through an oxygen mask. She turned her head a little and saw Mika next to her, staring at her intently, pain evident in her eyes.

"Rachel… if you want to feel strong and powerful so badly, I can help you." Raven looked at Mika with pleading eyes "If you want to die, let it be by my side…" the ex-hero's eyes filled with tears and she finally nodded. She drifted off to sleep again and next she knew she was in a cabin, and by what she could see out the window, in the middle of the woods. She turned her head and saw Mika tying up two unconscious men to a chair.

"Rae you woke up." said Mika approaching her, then saw Raven look with apprehension the two men. "Don't worry about them, they are criminals, I got them for you."

She didn't really get the meaning of her words, and her girlfriend just picked her up from the couch and took her to the bedroom. Her arms were still in casts and her body hurt from been picked up. Mika noticed her discomfort.

"Don't worry Luv… the pain will go away soon enough." She placed her on the bed and kissed her sweetly. "I wished we had more time, but your friends are looking for you, so we have to be fast."

Then her eyes became red and her fangs elongated. She closed the distance between her and Raven, and that's when she realized what was going on. Fear crawled up her spine, but when the vampire finally bit her and she felt life abandon her body she surrendered completely.

Everything turned black. She was used to darkness so she didn't mind. But then, drops of red tainted her vision. She felt this uncontainable hunger, and when her vision cleared there were two dead men at her feet. Blood smeared her hands and her clothes. And as she took her hand to her mouth she could feel two vicious fangs and the coppery taste of blood…

* * *

Mika stopped to catch her breath. As soon as she hit the street, the Titan signal installed in the Nightcycle began alerting her of trouble. She had decided to give it a try considering the real Titans were out of town. So far, she had stopped a robbery to a jewelry store, saved 2 kittens, and rescued a drowning man. Then the trouble signal began beeping again.

"What's wrong with this town? Can't anybody deal with their shit on their own? If it is another kid calling the Titans to save a kitten in a tree I'll have a meltdown."

She turned on the screen as a call was coming in, and saw Inspector Mathews on the screen.

"Nightwing! There was a cave in on a mine. The few workers left are trapped inside! Please hurry!"

Mika nodded and turned on the motorcycle. She headed to the site and as soon as she got there she grabbed a rope and got in to where the miners were trapped; she did not want to stop and chat with Inspector Mathews, he would have found out she was an imposter. Once she began her descent she could smell brimstone in the air and worried the place might blow up in any minute. She didn't really ask what kind of material they were mining for or the cause of the cave in, and was definitely considering turning back when the distinct cries for help came from a few feet away.

She reached the miners and removed the boulders blocking their path. They began filing out and as the last one passed her she heard more cries coming from inside. She pointed her flashlight further and saw a sobbing man sandwiched from the waist down by two big rocks. At first she tried to move one of the rocks to get him out, but the distinct smell of blood caught her attention as soon as she began moving it. Then she noticed the man was in the brink of death, the stones had cut him in half and he was probably still alive only because of the pressure the rocks put in his body, as soon as she removed them he would die.

"Please… help me…"

"I'm sorry, but you are not going to make it."

The face of utter shock crossed his expression. "But how? You always save everyone!"

"Sorry man, I'm not really a hero, just doing it for the kicks."

The man began sobbing harder. "Please, can you at least pass a message to my wife? Tell her to forgive me."

"Forgive you?"

"Yes, tell her to forgive me. I didn't mean to sleep with her sister."

"You expect your wife to forgive your cheating ass only because you are going to be dead soon? You are an idiot. I'll do the woman a favor by not telling her anything." the man cried in dismay "Stop crying, you are going to make everything fall sooner on our heads. Tell you what, I am a merciful creature, I'll stop your suffering now."

He looked at her confused. Mika removed the mask and saw him in the eyes. He panicked as he saw her eyes turn a crimson red and her fangs protrude from her lips. She bit in and drank to her heart's content until every last drop of life was drained from his body. She cleaned her face from blood stains and put her mask back on. The lifeless eyes of the miner looked at her directly.

"Look what you made me do… I broke my vegan diet…" she closed his eyes and left the way she came in "Guess I'm not really shaped to be a hero... Am more of an anti-hero really."

* * *

Starfire found Raven sitting again in one of the temple's gardens staring absently into the city. She looked paler than usual and was drenched in sweat.

"Friend Raven, what is wrong?"

"Hey Star. I'm fine, just a little shaken."

"Why?" asked the alien concerned.

"I went into the chamber of Destiny to see into my future again..."

"And?"

"And now I am really sure I'm not going back to Earth without my powers... that possibility is discarded."

"What did you see?"

"I saw my life as a normal human. The irony is that all my life I wished to be just a regular teen and right there, actually living it… I hated every moment of it." said Raven with disdain "I felt so lost I begged my girlfriend to kill me and turn me into a vampire, to feel that I was special again…"

"Mika turned you into a vampire? That does not sound so bad… you love her, don't you?"

"Yes, I love her. And a part of me would love spending eternity with her. But I had no idea what it was like. It really is not that romantic bullshit from the movies." Starfire looked at her friend urging her to continue her explanation. "I mean, I am used to this feeling of hatred and rage inside of me; I know it's my demonic side crawling inside every inch of my body. But what I felt as a vampire… It was a different kind of demon; one that craved for blood. I cannot take from my head the insatiable hunger I felt at that moment and what that beast inside of me was capable of doing to quench it."

"It must give you a different perspective of Mika, yes?"

"Yes… I really don't know how she contains that hunger. With all that self control she's practically a saint." Raven sighted. Starfire just looked at her in silence, giving her friend space to order her thoughts. "What I don't know Star, is if I want to go back the same way I came; or to change my life entirely."

"You still have one more day before your birthday to decide." reminded Star.

"I like my life the way it is right now..."

"But..."

"But getting rid of all this anger, all this rage, all this evil inside of me... The feeling I experimented on my first vision is what I have always wanted. It is all I've ever dreamed of… To be able to live in the realm of eternal light..."

Starfire was listening carefully to everything Raven said, and when she was done, she just remained by her side in silence, sending her love in her stream of emotions; which she appreciated greatly, since she was able to calm down her psyche. Then the voice of her alien friend broke her out of her reverie.

"Raven…"

"Yes?"

"Did you not say the sun never went down on Azarath?"

"It doesn't…" the empath opened her eyes feeling Starfire's sudden discomfort, and then she understood the meaning of her question. All of a sudden, the sky was turning pitch black, and in only a few minutes the realm of eternal light was immerged in darkness. "What the…"

"Raven!" Nightwing and the boys came running to where both female titans were seated. "What is going on? Everyone began running around like crazy."

"I don't know… I don't know why everything has darkened. Let's go look for Azar. She must know what is going on."

They ran to the top of the observatory, where Azar and her acolytes were looking at the sky. It was the tallest building in all Azarath, and the place was buzzing with activity. The acolytes ran around checking astrological charts, and looking into crystal balls.

"Azar! Blessed one, what is going on?" asked Raven to her old mentor.

"I'm afraid we are in trouble my dear."

"What do you mean?"

"The seal protecting our peaceful dimension has broken." the Titans gasped at her words. Raven had explained that protected from evil.

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know." as Azar said that, one of the acolytes looking at the sky through a telescope suddenly backed away cowering in fear. "What is wrong?"

"D… d…. demons!"

As everyone turned their eyes back to the sky they could see what had frightened the young man. First they saw one, and then two, then dozens of scary looking demons began hovering over Azarath. It was an entire army. Raven felt a strange tug in her chest, as if the hordes of demons were calling to her.

The Titan leader stood by her side, and she knew his mind was already planning the best way to fend off the invasion. Azarath had no army; they were a pacifistic society, so their only chance of survival would be them. But there were just too many demons in comparison; they would not be able to protect everyone in such a short notice.

"Raven?"

The empath turned to look at Gar as he was staring wide eyed at her. She felt a burning sensation in her forehead, and then saw in his eyes the source of his fear… the mark of Scath appeared on her forehead.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	4. Chapter 4: Two Sides of the Same Coin

**CHAPTER 4: Two Sides of the Same Coin.**

* * *

Everyone froze, both by the sight of the demonic army, and by the mark of Scath burning on Raven's forehead. Nightwing was the first one to react and approached his friend, confusion and fear visible on his face. The Titans knew the marks on her skin were a warning. But they never thought they would see them again.

"Raven, what is going on?"

"I…"

Raven's words were cut short by a thundering sound that shook the earth. They all turned towards the source and found to their horror that fireballs were launched towards the city. The first attack had destroyed the library, setting it on fire. The darkness that had fallen over Azarath, was now tainted red by the flames. Panic and confusion began to spread rapidly as the demonic army was landing in the city.

"TITANS GO!"

The Titans had battled together for years, and needed no more instructions from their leader to know what they had to do. As on cue, everyone spread to cover as much terrain and protect as much people as they could. Cyborg headed towards the burning library, to stop the fire from spreading and look for survivors. Changeling, in pterodactyl form, tackled every demon that tried to approach the site. Nightwing headed the other way, and began to face the first horde of demons that had already landed, while Starfire covered him in the air. Raven for her part knew she had to figure out what was going on.

"Azar, do you have any idea what this means?" said the Titan pointing at her mark.

"No my child; but for the sake of Azarath I will urge you to find out. I will gather the monks to try and restore the seal, prevent more demons from entering. I am afraid the safety of our people will rest on the Titans shoulders."

Raven nodded and launched herself head front towards the source of the massive force of demons. They were a little bigger than the average human, with red skin, bat wings, black tattoos, horns and vicious fangs. They were a frightful sight, but her fears had to be put aside for the sake of Azarath. As the Titan ascended, the wind on her face threw back her hood and the mark of Scath burned bright in the dark sky. The demons that had charged to stop her advance froze in their tracks. The dark empath suddenly found herself surrounded by dumbfounded crimson demons. More and more gathered around her, but neither did anything to harm her; they seemed to be waiting for something. Then a thundering roar made its way through the lines of demons. Raven levitated there in midair as she saw the demons make room for the new comer.

"What is going on!? Why have you wretched creatures stopped?!" hollered what looked like the general. He was huge, twice the size of his minions. And, unlike them, he had 4 gleaming red eyes. Raven stopped breathing; he looked a lot like her father, Trigon.

The general demon said nothing, he stood still assessing Raven. The demons that had landed and were battling the other 4 Titans suddenly stopped their attacks to turn their eyes towards the demonic lord and the half-demoness. The Titans also looked intently at what was going on. Next to the general a smaller demon approached, he was very human like and levitated to whisper something in his ear.

"She is the Gem of Trigon…"

Raven opened her eyes in shock. Her mind was racing and her thoughts were confusing, until she finally managed to speak her mind. "Who are you? How do you know me?"

"My name is Ammon, prince of the demon hordes. It is a surprise, although not totally unexpected to find you here. We knew someone had weakened the seal, I presume it was you, Gem." said the demon lord with a smirk plastered on his face.

"My name is Raven." spitted the Titan, much out of rage as out of fear of being responsible for this invasion. "And this is my home dimension, you are not welcomed here."

"Mwahahaha we are not welcomed Raven? Is that the way to treat family?"

"Family?" asked Rae even more confused now.

The demon smiled wickedly, he obviously knew he had the upper hand. "Yes… As I said, I am Ammon, prince of the underworld… son of Trigon." Raven's eyes grew big out of shock. "I am your eldest brother… What? You thought you were an only child? Now, if you may excuse me, I have a land to conquer." he was about to rise his hand when the other demon stopped him.

"Brother… remember family courtesy… she did mention this is her homeland. We are honor bound."

Ammon turned to look at the smaller demon and so did Raven. Not only was he more human like, but his skin was gray like hers, and he had red tattoos on his shaved head.

"Very well Belphegor." agreed the demon lord "It seems this is your lucky day little lady; you will have 24 hours more before annihilation. Out of familiar courtesy, I will have the honor of ripping your head off in a duel over sibling supremacy. You will be spared the horror of seeing my army devastate your dimension."

"What do you mean? Why would I agree to duel you?" asked the Titan outraged.

"You will agree because it is the only solution, if you don't the invasion will continue. But if you agree and you win, you will take control of Ammon's army." answered the smaller of the two. Ammon's only response was to laugh hysterically.

"You say it as if she had any possibilities to win. You have 24 hours… Raven."

With one last smirk and a wave of his hand, every demon in the sky and on land withdrew towards an empty floating island nearby. As sudden as the attack had begun it stopped. Raven stood there in midair, frozen by what had happened. The only demon that remained by her side was the one called Belphegor, that had interceded. They looked at each other until he finally spoke.

"Guess you have a duel to prepare for sister…"

"Sister?"

* * *

An hour later Belphegor stood in front of the Titans in the main chamber of Azar's Temple. He looked unfazed by the distrust and aggression coming from the young heroes surrounding him, pointing their respective weapons in his direction. The only one that just stood there looking at him was Raven.

"Ok, let's clear things up Belphegor. You are saying Trigon had 7 children, which would make you my half brother." clarified Raven.

"That is correct; one child representing every deadly sin: Greed, Lust, Gluttony, Sloth, Envy, Wrath, and Pride."

Raven turned to look at her mother that stood in a corner. As soon as the attacks began Arella had headed for the main temple in search for her children housed there. "Did you know of this mother?"

"No." admitted Arella. "But it doesn't surprise me, either."

"Ammon is Avarice." continued Belphegor with his explanation "Which is actually the reason why he accepted the duel; he wants to rejoice in claiming the head of the precious Gem of Trigon. He collects trophies. The very sin he represents will be his own demise."

"Why did you offer your help to Raven? What are you trying to achieve?" asked Nightwing menacingly.

"I like to be on the winning side." said the demon nonchalantly.

"How are you so sure I am going to win?" asked the empath confused.

"Because you represent Pride, the most powerful and deadliest of all sins. You just cannot lose. You cannot allow yourself that." he saw Raven flinch at the mention of her sin "Or at least that's what I hope, I don't want to be my brother's lackey anymore. You will set me free once all this is over."

"Why would I do that? You are a demon."

"Well, not all demons go around conquering dimensions and gathering hellish armies. Some actually go around playing hero, trying to redeem themselves…" he said pointing at the empath.

"That's because I am also human."

"Well, then we have much in common, I am also half human as well."

Everyone stared at him. He did look a lot like Raven, with grayish skin and catlike eyes. But they still didn't feel at ease with him. "You expect us to believe you are good just like that?"

"No… I am not good. I don't give a shit if Ammon destroys the city, rapes the woman, or slaughters the children…I just don't give a shit about anything. I am Sloth, I just want to be left alone and do nothing! And you are my best bet to go back to not giving a shit about the world."

Raven took her hand to her forehead, she was getting a headache. She felt very confused and scared for reasons she didn't quite understood. "Alright, let's imagine I believe you. What now? How are you going to help me?"

"You have to learn the battle mechanics or else you will be decapitated before you know it. We have… 23 hours to prepare you." he said as he took out a sand clock and placed it in the floor.

"Let's get to work then."

* * *

Back on Earth, Mika wanders around the Tower, having ditched the Nightwing suit. She took great care of leaving everything were she had found it, so no one would find out of her late adventure. Although no one would oppose her playing hero, Richard would have a stroke knowing she took his stuff for a test drive. She changed back to something that fitted her better: black jeans, bicker boots, leather jacket and a t-shirt with the legend: Bad Girl.

"This is better; I'm really not cut for hero material." the vampire stretched in front of the big TV screen, wondering what to do now "Actually, I'm in the mood for playing naughty."

She had been in the tower plenty of times to know that the big screen could boot up Titan's mainframe computer. So she decided to log in and surf the internet. She typed in an address and the screen showed a big poker table and the image of different people online.

"Online gambling… now this is a good way of making a living!"

* * *

"Ok, why can't I hold this stupid thing?" said Raven as she tried to lift a spear on her hands. It was the fifth weapon she tried to pick up to no avail. Demonic weapons were heavier than they looked. Her half brother had said she was entitled to a weapon and had spread a wide range on the floor in one of the patios where they were supposed to train.

"Demonic weapons are fueled by rage and hatred. If you want to defeat Ammon on his own terrain, you are going to have to unleash your demonic self little sister." explained Belphegor.

"Stop calling me sister. I won't use a weapon then, I've spent years of my life reigning in that part of myself to send it all out the window."

"You won't have much chance of winning then." the half demon looked mortified "Of course you could always cheat… I mean, Ammon will probably cheat."

"I don't cheat… I am a superhero."

"Right… I forgot I am talking to Pride…"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Raven was about to lash at him when Nightwing approached and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Raven maybe you should cooperate, I mean we don't have much choice."

The dark Titan just glared at her leader. He had no idea what he was asking of her, so she just stormed out before saying something she might regret later, and headed home. She flew to her mother's island, which luckily had received no damage from the initial attack. There she found her mother playing the piano to her two foster siblings. She had just seen them when her mother came looking for them at the temple, but with everything that was going on they hadn't been formally introduced.

"Hello Arella."

"Raven." her mother stood up and hugged her. "I know it is not a good time, but there are two little ones that have been dying to meet you."

The kids stood up and looked at her with wide open eyes. They were both wearing the traditional temple robes. Neither of the three knew exactly what to say. The girl took a little package from her pockets and handed it to Raven with a slight smile. "It's for you… Happy Birthday Raven."

The empath was startled; she had completely forgotten that today was her birthday. The time was measured differently in Azarath, for there was no difference between day and night. That was probably the reason their friends had not noticed it. Or maybe they didn't want to stress her further considering the situation they were in, very similar to her sixteen birthday.

"Thank you Kamile." Raven smiled fondly at them, they reminded her of her kids back home. She was suddenly afraid she might not see them again.

_How could I have even considered staying here in Azarath! _

Her mother noticed her internal turmoil and shushed her children away. "Milo, Kamile, would you give me some time alone with your sister?" they nodded and headed to play outside. "So… what can I help you with?"

"Arella, mother… I'm scared."

"I know my child." said Arella calmly.

"I don't know how I'm going to be able to defeat Ammon in a duel. I can't even hold the weapons I was given because I have to release my demonic side for that."

"Raven you defeated your father; I think you'll find the way to defeat your older brother."

"Yes, I defeated him, but with the help of my friends. This time I'm all alone, because if I drag them into it, the duel will be forfeited and the hordes of demons will invade Azarath… I know that if we are together we will win… but at what cost? How many lives will be lost in the battle?" Raven was horrified by the idea.

"Why don't you release your demon side then?"

"You are kidding right?" asked the empath flabbergasted by her mother's suggestion.

"No, I'm not kidding. It is part of who you are."

"It's the part of me I fear. It's the part of me I hate."

"Fear is what fuels negative emotions: hate, rage, envy, greed... The more you fear it, the more you'll fall to its control." Arella took her daughter's hands into her own and looked her in the eyes. "You are an adult now Raven, maybe that's what this whole rite of passage thing is about, accepting yourself and letting go of childhood fears."

The Titan hugged her mother, wishing to find comfort in her embrace, although she knew she was no longer a child, and the only comfort could be found within herself. After a few minutes she released her and went to sit at the edge of the lake, staring deep in the water. Arella's piano music resumed and could be heard in the distance. Then she closed her eyes and began meditating, reaching towards her inner mindscape. Reaching Nevermore.

* * *

Raven opened her eyes to find herself in Wisdom's Library. The place was uncharacteristically untidy; piles of books were scattered around, along with old parchments on top of the tables. She stood up from her lotus position and began looking for the yellow robed emoticlone. She walked the long aisles until she heard noise coming from downstairs. She found a secret passage in one of the bookshelves that led to a staircase. She grabbed an oil lamp and descended to the basement of the library. There she found Wisdom scrolling through old parchments.

"Wisdom what are you doing in this creepy place?"

"_What does it look like I'm doing? I'm looking for a solution to our newest ordeal._"

"You've been hanging out with Rude haven't you?"

"_Sorry… I am a little on edge… There is just so much to do in such a little time. I had not noticed that all our knowledge in demonology was in such pathetic conditions." _explained her serious side.

"Yeah I can hardly see down here… Wisdom I came to get…"

"_Advise… I know. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but there is not much I can tell you about our demonic half brother and how to defeat him. I actually think our best source of knowledge in that matter is Belphegor."_

"He is a demon."

"_My point exactly. I have run a battle simulation in the computer…" _

"You have a computer?" interrupted Raven a little shocked.

"_Yes, I have a computer… please don't lose focus. Anyway, I installed a program to run different simulations based on our previous spiritual journeys to the future. We have two options, either we play nice and heroic and involve the Titans so we don't taint ourselves with demonic influence, or we let the red one loose on the demonic general._"

"What would the possible outcomes be?" asked Raven fearing the answer.

"_Scenario number 1: after an epic battle the Titans win, but not without much collateral damage, meaning the demonic army devastates the city and takes countless lives in the process._"

"Ok…"

"_Scenario #2: We let Rage take the steering wheel, fully assume demonic form from which we might not come back, but we prevent much bloodshed by playing naughty and cutting Ammon's head with his very own weapons. Option number 2 present the least amount of human sacrifices… since it only sacrifices our own humanity…_"

"Wisdom, both options suck."

"_I know. That's why I'm researching…_" said the yellow emoticlone nonchalantly.

"Please hurry… if we don't find another solution I'm going to have to go for the second option. What worries me is that after I win the battle I might try to harm everyone I saved…"

"_There is still the possibility that might not happen. Since father's death, Rage is not that bad anymore…"_

"Of course you say that, she's chained in her volcanic realm."

"_No, she's not._"

"What?!"

"_She got free after father's death. Pretty much at the time where you got lax in your meditation…_"

"What?!"

"_It's ok. She usually stays in her realm, although sometimes she goes to Brave's training grounds to let out some steam._" explained Wisdom as a matter of fact.

"Why haven't I noticed that?"

"_Guess you have not given her much fuel to materialize, especially as of late that you've been all lovey-dovey."_ answered the yellow Raven rolling her eyes.

"Guess that makes a little sense."

"_You should go talk to her."_

"Rage has never been one to talk much."

"_You'll be surprised then. Now go, we don't have much time to waste." _

"You have become very bossy."

Wisdom just shrugged and resumed her work. So Raven made her way to Rage's volcanic realm. Much to her surprise she found Rage playing chess with Love. They were in a cave at the foothill of the volcano with torches to light the board on top of a wooden table. It was a strange sight; they looked at perfect ease with each other.

"_Hey Rae Rae!_" cheered Love once she noticed her presence. Rage turned to glare at Raven, apparently mad at the intrusion, but after a minute she went back to look at the board in front of her.

"Love what are you doing here?"

"_I'm keeping Rage company. I like it here, it's… hot._" she said this last word with a sultry smile at the end. "_Besides, we are practically neighbors, she is the closets one I have._"

"The closest one to you is Rage?"

"_Haven't you heard that between love and hate there is only one step away?_"

"That's kind of hard to grasp…" admitted Raven still in shock "Anyway… I've come to talk with you Rage."

"_That's a first…_" answered the demoness in a raspy voice "_I'm listening._"

"I need to defeat my brother, and I need you for that."

"_Sounds like fun. You don't really have to ask my consent for that._"

"Yes, I know you would love to go out and cause mayhem. But before I even consider it, I need to be sure that you will not harm my friends once the battle is over."

"_Raven, we would never hurt them!"_ jumped in Love.

"Of course we would never hurt them Love, but Rage is a different matter."

"_No, Love is right, I would never hurt them… at least not much._"

"_Raven, Rage and I, we are not that different, we both feel with intensity and passion, and we can easily change from one to the other." _explained the purple robed emoticlone to Raven's surprise _"The combination of us both is what creates other emotions like Lust, or Jealousy, or even Sorrow. You have been feeling the fine line between us as of late, haven't you? Mika tends to draw that, that's why I spend so much time with Rage nowadays._"

Rage stood up from her chair and approached Raven; she looked her straight with her four gleamy, red eyes and began talking in a serious way. "_The reason you are here, trying to tap into your demonic side, is not out of rage, is out of love. So don't worry, leave brother dear to us._" she then smiled wickedly. "_You should consider cheating though… don't let pride win, make it out of love…_"

The empath turned to look at Love which was smiling behind the red emoticlone. They didn't say more and she didn't dare ask anything else, so they resumed their game. It was like seeing god playing against the devil. Raven looked at them one last time before leaving the cave a little deep in thought.

* * *

Meanwhile on Earth, Mika was cleaning everyone at the poker table. She had not lived in Las Vegas for 2 decades for nothing. Her fun was interrupted though by the sound of the elevator doors opening. She panicked believing the team had returned early and tried to close everything as fast as she could. But then she heard an unfamiliar voice behind her.

"What's that? Online Poker?"

The vampire turned around to see a guy that resembled Robin. Behind him were 4 other masked vigilantes.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Mika facing them.

"I thought you were Raven! Who the hell are you?" asked Speedy startled.

"We are Titans East" declared Bumblebee approaching. She eyed Mika from head to toes, stopping at her t-shirt. "Where are the Titan's? What have you done to them?"

"Me?" asked the vamp confused. Then she saw her own t-shirt with the legend of _Bad Girl_ and everything made sense. "Oh oh."

* * *

The Titan leader was pacing back and forth in the main chamber of the Temple. The Titans were back inside guarding Belphegor. Azar, their ruler, had retreated with her monks to try and seal Azarath again, and had appointed the young heroes the task of keeping the demon out of trouble. For his part, the demon Halfling looked very calm and had just stayed there looking outside the window.

"She will come back you know…" said the demon to Nightwing "She is Pride; she will do anything to win."

"Yes, she will, but not out of pride. You might be her brother, but we are her family. So don't pretend to know her!" spitted out the dark vigilante.

"Moody much, aren't you?"

"Today is her birthday… it was supposed to be a special day…" said Richard sourly. The demon said nothing and just turned to look away with indifference. His girlfriend heard his last comment and took him by the hand and dragged him away to sit with her at a corner.

Suddenly the doors opened and Raven walked in. She was wearing the robes she and her mother had made for her Zarathian Passage. They all gasped, she was wearing all white and her leotard had been replaced by one that ended in a long skirt with opening to the sides to show her legs. Her arms were uncovered as well, except for her hands that wore long gloves. She looked really good, but what startled them was that her eyes were shining red. She approached the weapons in the floor and grabbed a long sword which she lifted with ease.

"So brother, how are we going to cheat to defeat that son of a bitch?"

Belphegor smiled as he approached Raven. "We are going to use intimidation."

The demoness smiled back, liking the sound of that. There was no turning back now.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	5. Chapter 5: Tainted Red

**CHAPTER 5: Tainted Red**

* * *

**_Author's Notes: _**

**_Yes... I know it's taken forever, and I'm sorry. This chapter has been more difficult to write than I expected. I hope you like it. The next one will not take that much now... I think... _**

* * *

"You are getting a midriff."

"What!? What does that have to do with intimidation?" exclaimed Raven taken aback; she was sitting in a bench in the temple's courtyard as her half brother prepared an eerie looking tonic in a bowl. The Titans remained on the sidelines giving the siblings some space; they both looked like a menacing pair and decided to stay away in case Raven's empathy was picking up their uneasiness at seeing her all demony. But they still roamed around in case their friend needed them, and turned to listen to their conversation when they heard Raven's yelp.

"Well, for starters I need enough canvas to paint my message so it will be very clear for our dear brother to see." explained Belphegor "And secondly, you will look like a hot-sex-bomb demoness that will be sure to raise your amount of followers among Ammon's ranks."

"Ok, explain me again why would I want that?" asked Raven infuriated.

"Because…" Belphegor began explaining for the third time "Ammon is very superstitious, he believes in prophesies and is easily scared by creeptic messages. I will paint a prophesy on your skin, like the one that implied you would be the portal for Trigon, so he will lose focus and you'll have more chances of winning. And while you battle big bro the Titans will be disguised among the demonic hordes to create commotion and dissidence so the demons start killing each other… and in case you get beheaded we will have a bigger chance of winning."

"Thanks for the vow of confidence." remarked Raven sourly.

"Anytime." came back Belphegor with irony "Anyway I do trust you'll do fine. You will probably even get many demonic suitors when all this is over; might find you a suitable dark prince."

"I don't need a dark prince."

"Yeah, she already has her dark princess." jumped in Garfield without thinking about it.

"Shut up Gar!" said the demoness as she encased her friend in a ball of black energy and threw him on a nearby pond. Seconds later a green duck was seen flying away from it. The other Titans turned to look at each other and decided it was wise to give her a little more space again.

"Princess? I see… is she a demon?" inquired Belphegor.

"No, she's not a demon. Now can we get started with the whole painting of creeptic messages on my skin?" said the empath trying to change the subject.

"A little too eager… you do know it's going to hurt and it will be permanent?"

"You mean I'm going to have demonic tattoos for life? You didn't say that!"

"I did mention they were like the marks you got from Trigon." explained Belphegor.

"Yeah but those only glowed in the dark and eventually disappeared." barked the Titan thinking this might be compromising too much of her integrity.

"They disappeared because the prophesy was fulfilled."

Raven looked mortified which didn't pass unnoticed by her friends. Richard had been listening carefully to their conversation and walked to stand by her side and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure of this Raven?" he asked "We can face them all as a team you know?"

"Thanks, I do have my doubts, but I believe this is better than putting the Azarathians at risk of suffering collateral damage..." admitted the demoness. Then she turned to look at her brother once more "Can I at least pick the message?"

"Sure"

* * *

"I am only going to ask this once… Where are the Titans?" asked Bumblebee pointing her weapons to Mika and shooting without a second thought. The vampire leaped away without much effort, but she immediately found herself surrounded by Mas and Menos moving at an extraordinary speed.

"Well aren't you quite the bullies; 5 masked vigilantes against one weaponless girl you don't even know." spitted the vampire.

"We know enough. You are not very smart; you printed it on your shirt." barked Speedy pointing at her _Bad Girl_ t-shirt.

"The Robin lookalike talks about smart choice in clothing… how cute."

"uhhh fue in golpe bajo." mocked Mas and Menos.

"Ok, you asked for it. Guys she's all mine!" Speedy drew out his arrows and fired at Mika at a rapid pace. She danced around the living room dogging them with ease; luckily for her, but bad for the living room which soon began to look like a war zone.

"Why are you even called Speedy? My dead grandma could move faster than you!"

"Speedy she is taunting you and you are destroying the Tower, the Titans are going to kill us. Just get serious and get it over with, we don't know how dangerous she might be."

"Yes Speedy, listen to mommy, if you break anything you'll get spanked!" said Mika as she leaped behind him and kicked his behind, making him fall on his face on the couch.

The Guatemalan twins burst out laughing. "¡Está haciendo que parezcas un idiota!"

"What did they say?"

"They said you look like an idiot! This is better than I expected, even your teammates make fun of you." said Mika not trying to hold back her amusement.

"¡Ella entiende español!" exclaimed the twins as Mika winked at them making them blush a little. Mas and Menos mockery distracted Speedy enough that the vampire managed to grab his arrows and was know holding them over her head away from the teen hero. Speedy got all worked up trying to take them back, and looked like a bullied kid.

"Not so tough now without your toys, are you? I won't give them back unless you say: Oh forgive me Mika! I'll find a new fashion statement, just please let me walk away with some of my dignity!"

"Mika? Wait you are Mika?" interrupted Bumblebee.

"The one and only… you know me?"

"Yeah, Cy told me about you. Guys that's not a super villain…"

"Who the hell I've been fighting then?!" yelped Speedy outraged.

"That's Raven's girlfriend." explained their leader.

"Raven's girlfriend? What do you mean Raven's girlfriend?" wondered Aqualad.

"Girlfriend as in they are dating." said Bumblebee as if she were talking to small children.

"You mean Raven is a lesbian?!" Speedy exclaimed in shock. "Well that explains why she never agreed to go out with me."

"Dude, shut up. You are making us look bad." said Aqualad sternly.

"Sorry about our little misunderstanding girl… Guess you are Raven's type after all." said Bumbleebee eyeing her clothes. "Anyway, Cy never told me you are a Metahuman."

"Metahuman? Right! Because of the speed and reflexes…" Mika grew a little nervous, and remembered she should be breathing, and blinking, and doing all the little things living beings usually do. Then decided best to just change the subject "So what brings Titan's East to the west?"

"Well we know Raven didn't want a party, but we thought we might come and leave her birthday present. Where is everyone by the way?" asked Aqualad.

"They are not here. They all went to Azarath, Raven's home dimension, for some passage ritual or something." explained Mika.

"Why didn't you go with them?" wondered Bumblebee

"I had stuff to do…"

"Like playing online poker?" said Speedy pointing at the big screen. Mika smiled a little, maybe he was not such a big idiot after all.

"I had my reasons… Anyway we'll celebrate once they come back; probably tomorrow. So you can go now."

"They left you alone in the Tower?" kept asking Bumblebee, much to Mika's dismay. She was not fond of talking much to strangers so she just nodded her head. "But what if there's mayor trouble in the city? Would you alone be able to handle it? Maybe we should stick around till the Titans return." Mika just shrugged her shoulders giving up.

Then the alarm at Titan's Tower began to glare all over. Aqualad turned on the screen and on it appeared Johnny Rancid causing havoc in the city with his giant mechanical pets.

"Johnny Rancid!"

"You know him?" asked Aqualad.

"Yeah… I've fought him." admitted Mika.

"Then you are coming with us." stated the Titan's East leader.

"But I'm not a superhero…"

"You are going to chicken out?" mocked Speedy.

"Fine let's go."

* * *

Nightwing moved about the hordes of demons. So far, Belphegor's concealing spell was holding and he looked like one of the many crimson fiends that had encamped in one of Azarath's floating islands. He only hoped Raven's half brother had not set them a trap and that he was not walking to an imminent death; he was a demon after all. Raven seemed to trust him, but still the leader of the Titans had offered to go alone undercover among the demonic ranks, he didn't want to put any more of his comrades at risk. He felt bad enough about leaving so much on Raven's shoulders, but he also understood why she was doing it and all he could do was support her.

He reached a clearing were many demons were gathered around a makeshift table. They were placing bets apparently. Richard Grayson smiled to himself; he had just found the perfect setting for a riot.

* * *

Mika was feeling uneasy, she was no superhero. It had been fun running around in mask saving kittens from trees and stopping common burglars from robbing old ladies, but this was on an all different level. Battling a giant mechanical dog, a super powered mechanical T-Rex, and a maniac loaded with guns looked… painful. She might not die from a bullet hole, but that still hurt like shit. Regardless of appearances the vampire was a pacifist. Heck she was a vegan!

As they arrived to the crime scene Bumblebee and Speedy ran to stop the mechanical T-Rex from trashing a government building; while Más and Menos circled at high speed the giant dog to prevent it from biting in half an armored vehicle from the bank. Mika just stood there dumbfounded as she watched in horror how the first Titan fell to the ground unconscious. Aqualad had immediately located Johnny Rancid and manipulated water from a hydrant to ride it like a surfboard against him. The criminal saw him approach and took out an electric whip which impacted his water wave sending jolts of electricity thought the atlantian's body knocking him out cold. The vampire approached the Titan to check his vital signs, and there's where Johnny saw her.

"Well who do we have here? The dike that got me arrested last time…" he smiled wickedly and jumped on his bike. "This time I'm gonna make sure you girl stay dead." He rode his motorcycle at high speed towards the vamp. Mika managed to leap out of the way but Johnny backtracked rapidly and before she could react he fired a metal rod from his bike. Last she knew she was impaled to a retail store wall. Her senses numbed as pain coursed through her body and blood invaded her vision. She distantly heard panicked screams, the churning of metal and faint explosions. The Titans were probably kicking butt right now… she was no hero.

Mikaela opened her eyes to see Mas and Menos inspecting the wound. They gasped relieved when they saw her move. "Sigue con vida! Hay que traer un doctor!"

"No…" Mika whispered faintly as she saw the worried expression of the Guatemalan twins. They were going to look for medical attention for her. "Quitenme esto, estoy bien." she urged them to take out the metal rod. "Por favor" Mas and Menos looked at each other unsure of what to do, but finally they did as requested and pulled out the metal rod that had pierced Mika's chest.

The twins looked horrified as blood poured profusely from the wound and from Mika's mouth. She laid on fours as the pain and pressure from her chest slowly faded. But the pain was rapidly replaced by hunger. Her senses suddenly sharpened as she smelled the sweet scent of sweat emanating from the hot blooded humans around her. Her ears were thundered by the sound of beating hearts and her mouth got dry. She was thirsty… blood thirsty.

Mas and Menos got close to her to try and take her to a hospital, but the vampire pushed them away with inhuman strength. They backed away as they saw her menacing blood-shot eyes and fear crawled up their spines. Mika then turned her sight to see the Titans subduing Johnny Rancid and she smiled to herself. In this state she would probably kill somebody. Better be someone that deserved it…

* * *

"Are you alright?" asked Arella as she approached her daughter. They were only an hour away from the confrontation. Raven had been meditating on her mother's cottage in preparation, as Arella played the piano for her. The other Titans were outside playing with her foster siblings, they were too fidgety since their leader had left.

"I am used to battling super powered villains, yet right now, my stomach is all acidy."

"What is on your mind?"

"I wonder what Mika is doing right now… I have the feeling that somehow she got in trouble."

"She's probably fine, you are just worried. You'll see her once everything is over." she smiled sadly "I'm guessing you won't be staying once this is all over."

"Well I just got demonic tattoos all over my body; I don't think Azar will find that suitable for her successor." answered the Titan "Plus, I really don't belong here... I wouldn't be able to leave behind my friends and my girlfriend back on earth."

"That's very sweet of you. I'm glad you can now portray such strong feelings towards others." Said her mother fondly "By the way, I think your girlfriend will like your tattoos…"

"Arella!"

"What? They look really cool if you think about it… they suit you; and the message too."

"You think this will give me an advantage as Belphegor said?" asked the Titan still doubtful. But at that moment her half brother walked in.

"It's time to go."

* * *

Raven levitated to the place of the match flanked by her friends. They were there for moral support only, since they were not allowed to intervene. In the center of the island the demons had built a ring where the battle would take place. The demonic army had already positioned around to watch. Expectation and blood lust filled the air.

Ammon stood in the middle; he had a broadsword at his side and looked smug with confidence. Both Raven and Belphegor stood in front of him with deadpanned expressions. He had warned her sister that Ammon would try to intimidate her as well so they decided best to show no emotion.

"Well now that we are here the rules are simple." began explaining the demon Halfling. "It's a duel to the death; the winner will be the one that beheads the opponent first. There shall be no assistance of others during the fight, hence risking automatically loosing which will allow this generous flock of demons to invade the ring and devour the looser. You are entitled one demonic weapon. The winner will take control of the army to do as he or she pleases. Understoo…?"

Belphegor turned to face Raven as he said the last part, but he didn't get to finish the sentence. "Your clothes are stained…" The demoness was a little confused, and turned to look at her white clothes which were tainted with splatters of red. Then she turned to look back at him and his eyes had gone blank. A stream of blood poured from his slightly opened mouth, and then she saw Belphegor's midsection pierced by a broad sword from behind, almost cutting him in half.

Ammon stood smiling behind him and withdrew the sword. Her brother's mutilated body fell lifeless to the ground.

"Understood brother."

* * *

_To be continued… _


End file.
